Amsterdam-based GPS navigation system manufacturer TomTom has shipped a small …

Share this story

When Ford announced that it would be releasing vehicles equipped with a Windows operating system, the jokes started flying in through the comments. It was inevitable, and yes, I even laughed at some of them. In a more serious nature, many have wondered if automobiles running Windows could be plagued by the same problems that affect PCs. Last year, researchers investigated whether or not a cell phone virus could travel over Bluetooth to infect a car's onboard computer, and they found that it was not possible. What those researchers should have done was consulted TomTom, an Amsterdam-based maker of GPS navigation systems for automobiles. The company has managed to ship a limited number of GPS devices for cars containing not one but two Windows viruses. While this isn't nearly as serious as a virus infection in a car's internal operating system, it's still one step closer to scanning our Toyota for viruses before the morning commute.

While the affected devices are limited to a batch of Go 910 navigation systems manufactured during the fourth quarter of last year, TomTom has admitted that PCs connecting to the GPS systems could become infected with the viruses, identified by F-Secure as Perlovga.a and Small.qp. According to the security vendor, the device, which runs Linux, is not actually infected with either virus—it's just hosting them. Users claim that they connect to the device with their PC, and their antivirus application warns them of the malware. F-Secure also notes that both viruses have been in existence for some time.

The infected files are "copy.exe" and "host.exe" and they are located in the root of the hard drive of the GO910. Perlovga.a was discovered in June 2006 and Small.qp back in January of 2005, so they're not new in any way.

TomTom officials say that the Go 910's performance is not hindered by either virus' presence in any way. In the situation that you would own a 910 that is hosting a virus, TomTom advises you to remove it with an antivirus scanner. The full press release is available on the company's website. There are no details as to how the viruses made their way onto the Go 910s.